Foldable heat radiating sheet

ABSTRACT

A foldable heat radiation board includes a plurality of elongated and narrow plate-like members with fluid tube embedding grooves provided therein, and the plate-like members are combined with each other in a quadrangular plan configuration. Fluid tubes are embedded in the embedding grooves, and a heat radiation sheet is attached to the entire surface on the front surface side, while a back surface material is attached to the entire or partial surface on the back surface side. A plurality of contact portions in which the end portions of adjacent plate-like members contact each other are set as folding portions, and a fluid tube outlet opening portion in the end portion of one of the plate-like members and a fluid tube inlet opening portion in the end portion of the other of the plate-like members are provided so as not to oppose each other but to be shifted from each other, this portion being set as a fluid tube passage portion.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a foldable heat radiation board, and inparticular, to a foldable heat radiation board which is installed on thesurface of a base material of a building, such as an ordinary housing, acondominium, a commercial building, or hotel. The heat radiation boardis applicable to a wall surface, a ceiling board, a screen, or the likeof a residential space, is capable of being folded, and is facilitatedin packaging, storage, transportation, installation and otheroperations, whereby a flat-finished surface can be obtained after thecompletion of installation.

BACKGROUND ART

In order to achieve an improvement in the comfortability of houses incold districts and the comfortability of houses in warm districts in thecold season, a floor heating technology for heating the inside of ahouse from the floor has conventionally been proposed and put intopractical use. In the case of a detached house, there is adopted atechnology with which, for instance, a heat radiation board (also calledthe “panel”) for floor heating is incorporated between a sleeper and afloor board or on the upper surface (or on the upper side) of a backingplywood laid on the sleeper, and heating is performed using the heatradiation board. In the case of condominium such as an apartment house,there is adopted a method with which, for instance, a heat radiationboard for floor heating is laid directly on the upper surface of a floorslab or on a backing plywood laid on the upper surface of the floorslab.

In JP 60-223922 A, JP 03-175216 A, JP 04-80596 A, JP 08-261485 A, andthe like, for instance, there are proposed heat radiation boards forfloor heating having a structure where grooves or spaces are formed inone surface of each plate-like member made of a soft foam or a hardfoam, fluid tubes (heat carrier flexible tubes) are embedded in thegrooves or the spaces, and the surfaces of the tubes are covered with aheat equalizer material such as an aluminum foil.

Generally, these heat radiation boards (panels) that have conventionallybeen known are obtained by forming grooves or spaces in elongated andnarrow plate-shaped members along the lengthwise direction of theplate-like members and embedding fluid tubes, through which a fluid isto be allowed to flow, in the grooves or the spaces. In order to installa heat radiation board having this structure, there is generally adopteda technology with which a wide heat radiation board is assembled inadvance at a place other than the installation site and then is broughtto the installation site to be installed. With this conventional method,however, there occurs a problem that when the assembled wide heatradiation board is folded, the fluid tubes are buckled or are damaged byfriction with the grooves provided in the plate-like members.

The buckling of the heat carrier tubes or the damage due to the frictionwith the grooves provided in the plate-like members frequently occurs inthe end portions of the plate-like members through which the fluid tubesextend from one to the other of adjacent elongated and narrow plate-likemembers. By focusing attention on this fact, a method of solving theproblem has been studied and there has been proposed a heat radiationboard having a structure in which the plate-like members are madedetachable (see JP 11-141899A, JP 11-294783A, etc.). As a result offurther studies conducted, however, there has been found that althoughthe aforementioned problem can be solved, the heat radiation boardhaving the proposed structure still suffers from problems in that themanufacturing process is complicated because the number of plate-likemembers is increased, the installation is also complicated because it isrequired to conduct the installation while fitting the fluid tubes inthe grooves provided in the plate-like members, and the surface of theheat radiation board after the installation is uneven although a flatsurface is desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above-mentioned problems inherent in the prior art, theinventors of the present invention have conducted intensive studies andsucceeded in completing the present invention. The present inventionprovides a heat radiation board, in which the number of constructionelements (components) is reduced, the manufacturing process is notcomplicated, folding is possible, there hardly occur buckling of fluidtubes and damage due to friction with grooves formed in plate-likemembers at the time of packaging, storage, transportation, andinstallation, the installation at the installation site is facilitated,and a surface after the installation has a flat finish.

That is, according to the present invention, there is provided afoldable heat radiation board, in which a plurality of elongated andnarrow plate-like members with fluid tube embedding grooves provided inone surface thereof are arranged in an approximately quadrangular planconfiguration in which end portions thereof contact each other. Fluidtubes are embedded in the embedding grooves, and a heat radiation sheetis attached to an entire surface on a front surface side. A back surfacematerial is attached to at least a part of a surface on a back surfaceside, and a plurality of folding portions are formed by a plurality ofcontact portions in which end portions of adjacent plate-like memberscontact with each other.

The foldable heat radiation board is characterized in that a fluid tubeoutlet opening portion in an end portion of one of adjacent plate-likemembers and a fluid tube inlet opening portion in an end portion of theother of the adjacent plate-like members are set at positions at whichthe opening portions do not oppose each other but are shifted from eachother. A fluid tube arrangement cutout portion is provided between theopening portions on wall surfaces in the end portions of the adjacentplate-like members, and a fluid tube is allowed to extend from theoutlet opening portion to the inlet opening portion through the fluidtube arrangement cutout portion. Either of the heat radiation sheet orthe back surface material is made discontinuous along the plurality offolding portions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a partial schematic plan view of an example of a foldable heatradiation board according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged schematic plan view of portion I shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged schematic plan view of portion II (tube passageportion) shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a schematic vertical side view taken along the line III—III ofFIG. 3, with a back surface material of the heat radiation boardfunctioning as a hinge.

FIG. 5 is a schematic vertical side view corresponding to FIG. 4, with aheat radiation sheet of the heat radiation board functioning as a hinge.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged schematic plan view of a state where a deep cutoutportion is provided in the portion II (tube passage portion) shown inFIG. 2.

FIG. 7 is a schematic vertical side view taken along the line IV—IV ofFIG. 6, with the back surface material of the heat radiation boardfunctioning as a hinge.

FIG. 8 is a schematic vertical side view of a state where the heatradiation board is in the course of being folded using the back surfacematerial as a hinge.

FIG. 9 is a schematic vertical side view of a state where the foldingfrom the state in FIG. 8 is finished.

FIG. 10 is a schematic plan view of an example of a foldable heatradiation board including four plate-like members.

FIG. 11 is a schematic plan view of an example of a foldable heatradiation board including six plate-like members.

FIG. 12 is a schematic plan view of an example of a foldable heatradiation board including eight plate-like members.

FIG. 13 is a schematic plan view of an example of a foldable heatradiation board including ten plate-like members.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention will now be described in detail.

A foldable heat radiation board (panel) according to the presentinvention is formed by combining a plurality of elongated and narrowplate-like members with each other so as to obtain a wide and elongatedapproximately quadrangular configuration after being installed. The heatradiation board is used to form a floor for floor heating, a wallsurface, a ceiling board, a screen, or the like. Further, when a coolantis allowed to flow through fluid tubes of the heat radiation boardinstead of a heat carrier, the heat radiation board functions as a heatradiation board for cooling.

The material of the plate-like members is selected from among a woodenflooring material, a wooden board, a plywood, a particle board, a fiberboard, a synthetic resin board, and the like. When the synthetic resinboard is selected, it is suitable that the board is selected from amongflat boards made of a hard foam resin having independent air bubbles andsuperior stiffness. Concrete examples of the hard foam resin materialinclude a polystyrene foam, a mixture of a polystyrene foam and apolyethylene foam, a polypropylene foam, hard polyurethane, foam hardrubber, and the like. However the hard foam resin material is notlimited to those of the examples. The expansion ratio of the synthesisresin board varies depending on the kind of resin used, but it isusually possible to select the expansion ratio in a range of 1.2 to 50times, or preferably in a range of 2 to 30 times.

The minimum thickness of the plate-like members is equal to the diameterof the fluid tubes, while the maximum thickness thereof may be selectedin a range of up to a size obtained by adding 25 mm to the diameter ofthe fluid tubes. It is not preferable that the thickness of theplate-like members exceeds the size obtained by adding 25 mm to thediameter of the fluid tubes because the plate-like members become toothick and the heat radiation board becomes bulky as a whole, causingdifficulty in handling thereof It is usually possible to select thelength of the plate-like members in a range of 60 to 400 cm inaccordance with the installation site of the heat radiation board. Whenthe heat radiation board is to be installed in a place having a largearea, it is also possible to perform the installation by combining aplurality of heat radiation boards. It is usually possible to select thewidth of the plate-like members in a range of 10 to 100 cm. If the widthexceeds 100 cm, there is impaired workability at the time of folding,packaging, storage, transportation, and the like. On the other hand, ifthe width is less than 10 cm, there are such drawbacks as follows: itbecomes impossible to form U-shaped grooves for changing the extendingdirections of the fluid tubes; many plate-like members become necessaryto obtain a certain width, and processing, such as manufacturing of theheat radiation board, folding after the manufacturing, and installationby unfolding the board, become complicated. As a result, it is notpreferable that the width of the plate-like members is set outside ofthe range described above. When the plurality of plate-like members arearranged to obtain a heat radiation board whose plan configuration isapproximately quadrangular, it is preferable that the plurality ofplate-like members have the same thickness, length, width, and the like.

In one surface of the heat radiation board formed by the plurality ofplate-like members, there are provided embedding grooves in which fluidtubes are to be embedded. It does not matter whether the embeddinggrooves are provided on the front surface side or the back surface side,but it is suitable that these grooves are provided on the front (upper)surface side from the viewpoint of heat radiation efficiency. It ispreferable that the sectional configuration of these embedding groovestaken perpendicular to the extending direction thereof is U-shaped. Itis also preferable that the opening width and depth of the embeddinggrooves, whose sectional configuration is U-shaped, are setapproximately equal to the diameter of the fluid tubes. These embeddinggrooves are provided continuously by appropriately combining andconnecting various grooves whose plan configurations are U-shaped,linear, and S-shaped (or inverse S-shaped).

Hereinafter, there will be described a heat radiation board having astructure where embedding grooves are provided on the front surface sideof plate-like members. Embedding grooves having the U-shaped planconfiguration are provided at one end or both ends in the lengthwisedirection of the plate-like members, and change the extending directionsof fluid tubes while maintaining their embedded state. Also, embeddinggrooves having the linear plan configuration are provided along thelengthwise direction of the plate-like members to establish connectionbetween the U-shaped grooves in the end portions. Further, embeddinggrooves having the S-shaped (or inverse S-shaped) plan configuration areprovided in portions in which some of the plurality of folding portionsof the fluid tubes extend from one to the other of adjacent plate-likemembers. Here, it is preferable that the radius of the curvature of theU-shaped grooves and the S-shaped (inverse S-shaped) grooves is set at aminimum size with which the fluid tubes will never be buckled. It isalso preferable that the embedding grooves are distributed so that heatis radiated uniformly from the entire surface of the heat radiationboard or is radiated uniformly from a given portion in which heating isdesired.

The heat radiation board according to the present invention has aconstruction where the position of a fluid tube outlet opening portion(fluid outlet portion) in the end portion of one of adjacent plate-likemembers and the position of a fluid tube inlet opening portion (fluidinlet portion) in the end portion of the other of the plate-like membersare set so that these opening portions do not oppose each other but areshifted (offset) from each other (this will be describe later, see FIGS.3 and 6). A fluid tube is arranged so as to extend through a portionbetween the outlet of one of the adjacent plate-like members and theinlet of the other thereof (this portion will be hereinafter sometimesreferred to as the “tube passage portion”). Thus, when the heatradiation board is folded at each folding portion including the tubepassage portion, the fluid tube is placed in a linear state and isexposed to the outside in this tube passage portion, which reduces thedegree of twist occurring in the fluid tube and prevents the fluid tubefrom being bent at a right angle. As a result, buckling hardly occurs inthe fluid tube. If the length by which the positions of the openingportions are shifted from each other, that is, the length of the tubepassage portion is set too short, the degree of twist in the fluid tubeis increased and the fluid tube is bent at an angle close to a rightangle, so that the buckling easily occurs. On the other hand, if thelength is too long, when a folding state is reset to a plane state, itis difficult to fit the fluid tube exposed at this portion in a fluidtube arrangement cutout portion, and neither of these cases ispreferable. It is preferable that the length, by which the positions areshifted from each other is set as five to 20 times the diameter of thefluid tube.

The fluid tube arrangement cutout portion is provided between theopening portions described above (in the tube passage portion) on thewall surfaces in the end portions of the adjacent plate-like members.This fluid tube arrangement cutout portion is provided so as to bemirror-symmetric in the end (side) portions of the two plate-likemembers, thereby obtaining a structure where when the wall surfaces inthe end portions of the two plate-like members are brought into contactwith each other, an embedding groove having a U-shaped sectionalconfiguration is formed (this will be described later, see FIGS. 4 and 5and the like). Such a tube passage portion is provided, so that when theheat radiation board is folded at a contact portion in which the endportions of the plate-like members contact each other, the fluid tubepassing through the tube passage portion is exposed and, when thefolding state is reset and the heat radiation board is set in a planestate, it is possible to fit the fluid tube in the fluid tubearrangement cutout portion provided in the tube passage portion withease. It does not matter whether the length of the fluid tubearrangement cutout portion is equal to the length of the tube passageportion or is equal to the entire length of the folding portionincluding the tube passage portion.

The location at which the folding portion including the fluid tubepassage portion is provided for the heat radiation board, may be any of(1) only in the end portions (sides) in the widthwise direction of theplate-like members, (2) only in the end portions (sides) in thelengthwise direction of the plate-like members, and (3) in both of theend portions (sides) in the widthwise direction and the end portions inthe lengthwise direction. The location (1) is adopted when a wide heatradiation board is obtained by combining the plurality of elongated andnarrow plate-like members. On the other hand, the location (2) isadopted when an elongated heat radiation board is obtained by combiningthe plurality of elongated and narrow plate-like members, and thelocation (3) is adopted when a wide and elongated heat radiation boardis obtained by combining the plurality of elongated and narrowplate-like members.

It is preferable that in the heat radiation board according to thepresent invention, a fluid tube retainer is provided at an appropriateposition on the surface of each fluid tube. With this construction, whenthe folding state of the heat radiation board is reset to a plane stateto be installed, it is possible to push a part of the fluid tubeexisting in the fluid tube passage portion into the fluid tubearrangement cutout portion, thereby preventing the fluid tube fromprotruding onto the surface of the heat radiation board from the fluidtube passage portion. The fluid tube retainer is attached at a positionon the surface of the fluid tube corresponding to a portion in which adeep cutout portion is provided. The sectional configuration of thefluid tube retainer taken perpendicular to the lengthwise direction ofthe fluid tube is like a short C-shaped tube. It is preferable that thefluid tube retainer is made of a relatively hard material, such ascross-linked polyethylene, polybutene, polypropylene, or semi-hardpolyvinyl chloride, and the thickness and length (width) of the fluidtube retainer are respectively selected in a range of 1.0 to 5 mm and ina range of 3 to 20 mm.

In order to attach the fluid tube retainer, a deep cutout portion thatis deeper than the fluid tube arrangement cutout portion is provided soas to be adjacent to the inlet opening portion and the outlet openingportion of the fluid tube arrangement cutout portion. The sectionalconfiguration of the deep cutout portion taken in the lengthwisedirection is U-shaped, the depth thereof is set equal to or somewhatlarger than a depth with which fitting is possible under a state wherethe fluid tube retainer is attached to the surface of the fluid tube,and the length (width) of the deep cutout portion is set equal to orsomewhat larger than the length of the fluid tube retainer.

The fluid tubes arranged and embedded in the grooves (including thelinear grooves, the U-shaped grooves, and the S-shaped (inverseS-shaped) grooves) achieve a function of allowing a heat carrier or acoolant to pass through inner spaces thereof and are required to excelin flexibility as well as mechanical strength, heat resistance, chemicalresistance, and the like. Examples of tubes having such propertiesinclude a cross-linked polyethylene tube, a polybutene tube, apolypropylene tube, a soft polyvinyl chloride tube, a nylon tube, andthese resin tubes in whose wall surfaces there are embedded metal wires.Of these, the cross-linked polyethylene tube and the polybutene tube arepreferable. The outer diameter of the heat carrier tubes variesdepending on the district in which a building is constructed, the kindof building, and the like, although it is possible to select the outerdiameter in a range of 3 to 20 mm. Also, it is possible to select thethickness thereof in a range of 0.5 to 5 mm.

Examples of the media allowed to flow through the fluid tubes includewater, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, a gas, and the like,regardless of whether the media is used as a heat carrier or a coolant.The fluid tubes are connected to a fluid circulating apparatus providedwith a fluid temperature adjusting apparatus through a fluid header. Itis preferable that the fluid temperature adjusting apparatus is placedin the vicinity of the installation site of the heat radiation board,such as the underfloor, the outside, or the rooftop of a building.

With the heat radiation board according to the present invention, afterthe fluid tubes are embedded in the embedding grooves, a heat radiationsheet is attached to the entire surface on the front surface side, and aback surface material is attached to the entire or partial surface onthe back surface side. The heat radiation sheet is attached to theentire surface on the front surface side of the heat radiation board,although the back surface material is attached to the entire or partialsurface on the back surface side of the heat radiation board. In thisprocess, either the heat radiation sheet or the back surface material ismade discontinuous along the plurality of folding portions. In thepresent invention, the word “continuous” refers to a state where thesheet or the material is not cut at the folding portions, while the word“discontinuous” refers to a state where the sheet or the material is cutat the folding portions. When the heat radiation sheet on the frontsurface side of the heat radiation board is made continuous at thefolding portions and the back surface material on the back surface sideis made discontinuous at the folding portions, the heat radiation sheetconnecting the heat radiation board functions as a hinge and there isobtained a structure (hereinafter referred to as the “valley-foldablestructure”) where the heat radiation board is capable of being folded ina valley shape. On the other hand, when the back surface material on theback surface side of the heat radiation board is made continuous at thefolding portions and the heat radiation sheet on the front surface sideis made discontinuous at the folding portions, the back surface materialconnecting the heat radiation board functions as a hinge and there isobtained a structure (hereinafter referred to as the “mountain-foldablestructure”) where the heat radiation board is capable of being folded ina mountain shape. Note that it is sufficient that the back surfacematerial is attached so as to achieve the function of a hinge, whichmeans that it is not required to attach the back surface material to theentire surface in the lengthwise direction of the folding portion, andthe back surface material may be partially attached to the foldingportion at constant intervals. After being attached to the entiresurface, the heat radiation sheet or the back surface material may bemade discontinuous by cutting along the folding portions using a knifeor the like.

With the heat radiation board according to the present invention, whenthe folding portion including the tube passage portion is provided inboth of the end portions in the widthwise direction and the end portionsin the lengthwise direction like in the case of the location (3)described above, it is preferable that both of the heat radiation sheetand the back surface material are made discontinuous at some of theplurality of folding portions (this will be described later, see FIGS.10 to 13). Here, it is sufficient that both of the heat radiation sheetand the back surface material are made discontinuous at some of theplurality of folding portions. The folding portions, in which both ofthe heat radiation sheet and the back surface material are madediscontinuous, may be determined as appropriate in accordance with thenumber of plate-like members constituting the heat radiation board (thiswill be described later, see FIGS. 10 to 13). Even when the plurality ofplate-like members are arranged to form two rows (or two columns), it ispossible to perform folding smoothly by making both of the heatradiation sheet and the back surface material discontinuous at some ofthe plurality of folding portions.

When the heat radiation sheet attached to the entire surface on thefront surface of the heat radiation board is made of a material withsuperior flexibility, this heat radiation sheet prevents the fluid tubesembedded in the embedding grooves from detaching from the embeddinggrooves and functions as a hinge at the folding portions, as describedabove. When the heat radiation sheet is made of a hard plate-likematerial as described above, this heat radiation sheet pushes the fluidtubes into the fluid tube arrangement cutout portions. Examples of theheat radiation sheet include an aluminum foil, a metal foil plate, ametal plate, a lamination body of an aluminum foil and a nonwovenfabric, a material obtained by evaporating a metal, such as aluminum,onto a plastic film, or a lamination member thereof On the other hand,examples of the back surface material include an aluminum foil, aplastic film, a nonwoven fabric, a lamination body of an aluminum foiland a nonwoven fabric, and the like. Usually, it is preferable that thethickness of the heat radiation sheet is selected in a range of 0.5 to 3mm in the case of a hard plate-like material and is selected in a rangeof 10 mm to 0.3 mm in the case of a material with superior flexibility.

When the heat radiation board according to the present invention has astructure where the fluid tube retainers are attached to the fluidtubes, it is preferable that the whole of the heat radiation sheet or apart thereof in the vicinity of each folding portion is made of a hardplate-like material. When such a hard plate-like material is used andthe mountain-foldable structure is obtained, the hard plate-like membercontacts the surface of the fluid tube retainer prior to the surface ofthe fluid tube and the fluid tube retainer is pushed into the deepcutout portion in the course of an operation where the folding state isreset to a plane state at the time of installation of the heat radiationboard. In this process, the fluid tube is simultaneously pushed into thefluid tube arrangement cutout portion, so that it becomes possible toprevent the fluid tube from protruding from the fluid tube passageportion.

When the embedding grooves are provided on the back surface side of theplate-like members, it is preferable that the thickness of theplate-like members is made thin as much as possible and the heatradiation sheet attached to the back surface side is regarded as a backsurface material. This back surface material has a function ofpreventing the fluid tubes from being detached from the embeddinggrooves and also has a function of reflecting heat to the front surfaceside of the plate-like members, so that it is preferable that the backsurface material is attached to the entire surface on the back surfaceside. A technology of combining the plurality of plate-like members witheach other, a technology of embedding fluid tubes, a technology offorming folding portions, and the like used in this case are the same asthose used in the aforementioned case where the embedding grooves areprovided on the front surface side of the plate-like members.

It is preferable that the foldable heat radiation board according to thepresent invention is manufactured in advance in a plant, a factory, orthe like that is different from the installation site. The heatradiation board is produced to have a desired wide area by arranging theplurality of plate-like members so that the end portions thereof contacteach other, and has a plane configuration that is approximatelyquadrangular. Continuous fluid tubes are embedded in the fluid tubeembedding grooves provided on one surface, a heat radiation sheet isattached to the entire surface on the front surface side, a back surfacematerial is attached to the entire or partial surface on the backsurface side, and the heat radiation sheet and/or the back surfacematerial are/is made discontinuous at the folding portions by cutting.

The heat radiation sheet and/or the back surface material in the foldingportions are/is made discontinuous as described above. Therefore, thediscontinuous surface side is opened using the continuous surface sideas a hinge at the time of folding (this will be described later, seeFIG. 8).

Next, there will be described a method of installing the foldable heatradiation board according to the present invention. After beingmanufactured at a place that is different from the installation site,the foldable heat radiation board is transported/transferred to theinstallation site in a building under a folded state. The board isunfolded to be installed at a predetermined position on the backingsurface of a building floor. The building may be an already-existing oneas well as a newly constructed one. Here, in the case of a concretebuilding, such as an apartment house, a commercial building, or a hotel,the backing surface refers to a slab surface or a backing floor plywooddisposed thereon. On the other hand, in the case of a detached house,the backing surface refers to a backing floor plywood. The predeterminedposition may be the whole or a specific part of the floor of a room.When the area of the installation site is large, the plurality of heatradiation boards may be combined with each other. It is possible to fixthe heat radiation board to the backing surface or an already-existingfloor made of a backing floor plywood using screws or nails.

It is preferable that when the heat radiation board is installed, adecorative material is arranged on the heat radiation sheet. Examples ofthe decorative material include a plywood, a wooden board, a fiberboard, a resin board, a particle board, a carpet, and the like, althoughthe present invention is not limited to these examples. The decorativematerial is selected in accordance with the kind of material of theplate-like members. It does not matter whether the decorative materialis formed by a single wide material or the plurality of thin and smallmaterial pieces combined with each other. It is possible to apply acoating to the surface of the decorative material or to print awood-grain pattern or another pattern thereon. Usually, it is possibleto select the thickness of the decorative material in a range of 1 mm to15 mm. If the thickness is too thin, the functions described abovecannot be attained. On the other hand, if the thickness is too thick,the heat transfer efficiency from the fluid tubes is lowered, and,therefore neither of these cases is preferable.

Even when the foldable heat radiation board according to the presentinvention is used as a wall surface material, a ceiling material, or thelike, it is possible to execute construction work by following theaforementioned method of constructing the heating floor. When thisfoldable heat radiation board is used as a screen, a reinforcement boardis attached to its back surface to thereby obtain a certain width withwhich there is obtained a leg portion that achieves a self-standingfunction, for instance. Also, if the foldable heat radiation board isused as a folding screen, hinges are attached thereto.

(Embodiments)

Specific embodiments of the present invention will now be described indetail with reference to the drawings. The following embodiments,however, should not be construed restrictively, and variousmodifications are possible without departing from the scope of theinvention.

A heat radiation board 1 is formed to have an approximately quadrangularconfiguration by combining a plurality of elongated and narrowplate-like members 2 with each other. In FIG. 1, there is illustrated anexample where four plate-like members 2 are combined with each other,although it is possible to increase the number of combined plate-likemembers to six, eight, or ten, for instance. Fluid tube embeddinggrooves 3 are provided on the front surface side of the plate-likemembers 2. In more detail, U-shaped grooves that change the extendingdirections of fluid tubes are provided in the end portions of theplate-like members 2, liner grooves that connect the U-shaped grooves inthe end portions are provided along the lengthwise direction of theplate-like members, and S-shaped (or inverse S-shaped) grooves areprovided in portions (tube passage portions) through which the fluidtubes 4 pass from one to the other of the plate-like members.

In an example illustrated in FIG. 4, the heat radiation board 1 isconstructed by plate-like members 2A and 2B that are arranged adjacentto each other, with a heat radiation sheet 5 being attached to the frontsurface side and a back surface material 6 being attached to the backsurface side. The heat radiation sheet 5 is made discontinuous at afolding portion 8, while the back surface material 6 is made continuousat the folding portion 8 and functions as a hinge. A fluid tube outletopening portion 2 a in the end portion of the plate-like member 2A and afluid tube inlet opening portion 2 b in the end portion of theplate-like member 2B are provided at positions at which these openingportions 2 a and 2 b do not oppose each other but are shifted from eachother. In the end portions of the plate-like members 2A and 2B, fluidtube arrangement cutout portions 7A and 7B are provided, so that agroove, whose vertical sectional configuration is U-shaped like thefluid tube embedding groove, is formed by both of the cutout portionsunder a state where the heat radiation board 1 is set in a plane state(see FIG. 4). When the heat radiation board 1 is folded at the foldingportion 8, the heat radiation sheet 5 side is separated at thediscontinuous portion and the fluid tube 4 is exposed while extendingfrom the plate-like member 2A to the plate-like member 2B through thetube passage portion between the opening portion 2 a and the openingportion 2 b. Here, the folding manner in this example corresponds to themountain folding described above.

In an example illustrated in FIG. 5, the heat radiation board 1 isconstructed by plate-like members 2A and 2B that are arranged adjacentto each other. The heat radiation sheet 5 is made continuous at thefolding portion 8 and functions as a hinge, while the back surfacematerial 6 is made discontinuous at the folding portion 8. When the heatradiation board 1 is folded at the folding portion 8, the back surfacematerial 6 made discontinuous is separated at the discontinuous portionand the fluid tube 4 is exposed while extending from one plate-likemember to the other plate-like member through the tube passage portionbetween the opening portion 2 a and the opening portion 2 b. Here, thefolding manner in this example corresponds to the valley foldingdescribed above.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged schematic plan view under a state where deepcutout portions 7C and 7D are provided in the portion II (tube passageportion) in FIG. 2. FIG. 7 is a schematic vertical side view taken alongthe line IV—IV of FIG. 6, with the back surface material of the heatradiation board functioning as a hinge. In the example illustrated inFIGS. 6 and 7, the deep cutout portions 7C and 7D that are each deeperthan the fluid tube arrangement cutout portions 7A and 7B are formed inthe curved portions of the portions 7A and 7B in the tube passageportion of the fluid tube embedding groove. In the deep cutout portion7C, a fluid tube retainer 7E attached to the surface of the fluid tubeis fitted at a position in the vicinity of the curved portion of thefluid tube. Also, as shown in FIG. 7, it is preferable that this fluidtube retainer 7E is fitted so as to cover the fluid tube from abovethereby to prevent protrusion of the fluid tube with more reliability,but there occurs no problem even if the covering angle is shifted tosome extent. FIG. 8 is a schematic vertical side view under a statewhere the heat radiation board is in the course of being folded usingthe back surface material as a hinge, while FIG. 9 is a schematicvertical side view of a state where folding from the state shown in FIG.8 is finished.

When folding portions of the heat radiation board are formed only in theend portions in the widthwise direction of the plate-like members oronly in the end portions in the lengthwise direction thereof, mountainfoldable portions and valley-foldable portions are alternately arranged.When the folding portions are arranged at both of the end portions inthe widthwise direction of the plate-like members and the end portionsin the lengthwise direction thereof, both of the heat radiation sheetand the back surface material are made discontinuous at some of theplurality of folding portions in accordance with the number ofplate-like members constituting the heat radiation board, as shown inthe schematic plan views in FIGS. 10 to 13. In FIGS. 10 to 13, the fluidtubes are omitted; reference numeral 11 denotes each folding portion atwhich the board is folded in a mountain (protrusion) shape, andreference numeral 12 represents each folding portion at which the boardis folded in a valley (recess) shape. Also, a portion 10 specified by abold line represents a folding portion at which both of the heatradiation sheet and the back surface material are made discontinuous,with both of the mountain folding and the valley folding being possibleat this bold line portion 10. Further, the discontinuous portions inthese drawings are merely examples, and the present invention is notlimited to these illustrated examples. For instance, it is possible toprovide the discontinuous portions at arbitrary folding portions.

The present invention, described in detail above, provides the followingespecially advantageous effects and has an extremely high industrialutility value.

-   1. The foldable heat radiation board according to the present    invention is formed by a single integrated member obtained by    embedding continuous fluid tubes in a plurality of plate-like    members, attaching a heat radiation sheet to the front surface side,    and attaching a back surface material to the back surface side.    Thus, the number of construction elements is reduced and there is    facilitated the handling at the time of manufacturing, packaging,    storage, transportation, and installation.-   2. The foldable heat radiation board according to the present    invention has a structure in which a fluid tube outlet opening    portion in an end portion of one of adjacent plate-like members and    a fluid tube inlet opening portion in an end portion of the other of    the adjacent plate-like members are set at positions at which the    opening portions do not oppose each other but are shifted (offset)    from each other. A fluid tube arrangement cutout portion is provided    between the opening portions on wall surfaces in the end portions of    the adjacent plate-like members, and a fluid tube is allowed to    extend from the outlet opening portion to the inlet opening portion    through the fluid tube arrangement cutout portion (i.e., the fluid    tube extends along the folding portion), so that when the heat    radiation board is folded at the folding portion, the fluid tube is    not buckled.-   3. The foldable heat radiation board according to the present    invention has a structure in which the plurality of plate-like    members are integrated with each other by a heat radiation sheet and    a back surface material, but at least one of the heat radiation    sheet or the back surface material is made discontinuous along the    plurality of folding portions. Thus, when the heat radiation board    is folded at the folding portions, the discontinuous portions    function as a hinge and there is prevented a situation where the    plurality of plate-like members constituting the heat radiation    board are disassembled.-   4. The foldable heat radiation board according to the present    invention is capable of being folded smoothly even when the    plurality of plate-like members are arranged to form two rows (or    two columns) because both the heat radiation sheet and the back    surface material are made discontinuous at some of the plurality of    folding portions.-   5. A deep cutout portion that is deeper than the fluid tube    arrangement cutout portion is provided so as to be adjacent to the    inlet opening portion and the outlet opening portion respectively of    the fluid tube arrangement cutout portion. A fluid tube retainer,    whose sectional configuration taken perpendicular to a lengthwise    direction is a short C-shaped tube, is attached at a position    corresponding to the deep cutout portion on the fluid tube extending    through the fluid tube arrangement cutout portion. Thus, when the    heat radiation board is installed by unfolding the board, the    surface thereof is finished with levelness and the floor having the    decorative material arranged thereon is level, since the fluid tube    retainer retains the fluid tube in the fluid tube arrangement cutout    portion.-   6. When an entire surface of the heat radiation sheet or the    vicinity of the heat radiation sheet folding portions is formed by    using a hard plate-like material, it is possible to accurately    retain the fluid tube in the fluid tube arrangement cutout portion    by strongly depressing the fluid tube retainer.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The foldable heat radiation board of the present invention is usable asa heating apparatus to be installed on the surface of a base material ofa building, such as an ordinary housing, condominium, or a commercialbuilding, or to be applied to a wall surface, a ceiling board, a screen,or the like in a residential space.

1. A foldable heat radiation board comprising: a plurality of elongatedplate members each having a front surface, a back surface, and fluidtube embedding grooves in one of said front surface and said backsurface, said plate members being arranged in a substantiallyquadrangular plan configuration so that adjacent sides of adjacent platemembers contact each other; fluid tubes embedded in said embeddinggrooves; a heat radiation sheet attached to an entirety of said frontsurface; a back surface material attached to at least a portion of saidback surface; and a plurality of folding portions formed along saidadjacent sides of said adjacent plate members, each of said foldingportions having a fluid tube outlet portion in a side of a first one ofsaid adjacent plate members, having a fluid tube inlet portion in a sideof a second one of said adjacent plate members, and having a fluid tubecutout portion connecting said fluid tube inlet portion and said fluidtube outlet portion, said fluid tube outlet portion and said fluid tubeinlet portion being arranged so as to be offset from each other andthereby not directly oppose each other; wherein a portion of one of saidfluid tubes is arranged in each of said folding portions so as to extendsubstantially parallel to said adjacent sides of said adjacent platemembers from said fluid tube inlet portion to said fluid tube outletportion through said fluid tube cutout portion; and wherein at least oneof said heat radiation sheet and said back surface material isdiscontinuous along each of said plurality of folding portions.
 2. Thefoldable heat radiation board of claim 1, wherein said plurality offolding portions are arranged along widthwise sides and/or lengthwisesides of said plate members.
 3. The foldable heat radiation board ofclaim 1, wherein each of said folding portions further has a pair ofdeep cutout portions that are each deeper than said fluid tube cutoutportion, one of said pair of deep cutout portions is arranged at each ofsaid fluid tube inlet portion and said fluid tube outlet portion; andsaid foldable heat radiation board further comprises fluid tuberetainers each attached to one of said fluid tubes at a positioncorresponding to one of said deep cutout portions of each of saidfolding portions, each of said fluid tube retainers having a C-shapedsectional configuration perpendicular to a lengthwise direction of saidone of said fluid tubes.
 4. The foldable heat radiation board of claim1, wherein a mountain-foldable structure comprises at least parts ofsaid heat radiation sheet at said plurality of folding portions formedof a hard plate material, said back surface material on said backsurface of said heat radiation board being continuous at said pluralityof folding portions, and said heat radiation sheet on said front surfacebeing discontinuous at said plurality of folding portions.
 5. Thefoldable heat radiation board of claim 1, wherein both said heatradiation sheet and said back surface material are discontinuous at someof said folding portions.
 6. The foldable heat radiation board of claim1, wherein said fluid tube inlet portion of each of said foldingportions communicates with one of said fluid tube embedding grooves insaid second one of said adjacent plate members, and said fluid tubeoutlet portion of each of said folding portions communicates with one ofsaid fluid tube embedding grooves in said first one of said adjacentplate members.